It may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but St. Joseph ultimately got the result they hoped for on Thursday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 victory over the Gull Lake Blue Devils. This was payback for the Bears, who suffered a 6-3 defeat the last time these two teams met.
St. Joseph got a great performance from Ryan Buist as he tossed six innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. Buist is becoming a predictor of the Bears' success: when he allows at most three hits the team is undefeated (and 8-13-1 when he doesn't).
Mitchell Culver
| 05/22/25 vs Gull Lake | 2 |
| 05/08/25 @ Norrix | 2 |
| 04/30/25 vs Kalamazoo Central | 2 |
| 04/23/25 @ Portage Northern | 2 |
| 05/19/25 @ Vicksburg | 1 |
| + 5 more games |
At the plate, Mitchell Culver was excellent, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI. St. Joseph is 3-1 when Culver posts two or more stolen bases, but 8-12-1 otherwise.
St. Joseph pushed their record up to 11-13-1 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Gull Lake, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 21-8 record this season.
St. Joseph will have a chance to go back-to-back against Gull Lake: the pair will be back at it again later today.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
